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Georgia Bulldogs: NCAA Tournament Bubble Watch

By Matt Green

Mar 10, 2017; Nashville, TN, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Mark Fox during the second half against the Kentucky Wildcats during the SEC Conference Tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Kentucky won 71-60. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 10, 2017; Nashville, TN, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Mark Fox during the second half against the Kentucky Wildcats during the SEC Conference Tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Kentucky won 71-60. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Georgia Bulldogs are on the bubble for a selection in next week’s NCAA tournament, but Friday’s loss did not help their chances.

On Friday afternoon, the Georgia Bulldogs lost to the top-seeded Kentucky Wildcats 71-60 in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament.

In Joe Lunardi’s most recent Bracketology, the Bulldogs are listed as the “Next Four Out”, and it appears it is going to stay that way.

With a 19-14 record, the Bulldogs are still hopeful the committee could select them, but it’s not looking promising.

Case Against Georgia

Mar 9, 2017; Nashville, TN, USA; Georgia Bulldogs forward Yante Maten (1) attempts a shot during the first half against the Tennessee Volunteers during the SEC Conference Tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY SportsBulldogs still have hope that the committee could select them, but it doesn’t look very promising.
Mar 9, 2017; Nashville, TN, USA; Georgia Bulldogs forward Yante Maten (1) attempts a shot during the first half against the Tennessee Volunteers during the SEC Conference Tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY SportsBulldogs still have hope that the committee could select them, but it doesn’t look very promising. /

The case against the Bulldogs is easy. They haven’t beaten anyone.

Georgia has a 1-9 record against the RPI Top 50, with the only win coming against Vanderbilt, who at no. 44 is barely a top 50 team.

The Bulldogs’ 8-13 record against the RPI Top 100 is a little better, but it’s going to take more than that to be a tournament team.

Georgia’s top five wins this season, according to the RPI, were Vanderbilt (44), Ole Miss (69), UNC Asheville (75), and Tennessee (78) twice.

Case For Georgia

The Bulldogs rank no. 48 in the RPI (Rankings Power Index. With 32 teams gaining automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament, that leaves 36 more at-large bids to the Big Dance.

There are potentially 14 conference champions, i.e. automatic qualifiers, ahead of Georgia in the RPI rankings. So if you take those teams out of the equation, Georgia jumps to 34. And with 36 at-large bids given, the Dawgs remain mathematically in the mix.

The Bulldogs might have a 1-8 record against the RPI Top 50, but if you take a closer look, there might not be a team in the country with a tougher schedule than Georgia.

They played six games of against teams in the top 5 of the RPI. Six. The Bulldogs lost to no. 3 Kansas on Nov. 22, lost to no. 4 Florida twice, and lost to no. 5 Kentucky three times. And two of those losses to the Gators and Wildcats came in overtime,

Georgia was the only team in the SEC that played Florida, Kentucky, and South Carolina twice in the regular season.

The Bulldogs also had to play the final five games of the regular season without first team all-SEC player, Yante Maten. The NCAA Tournament committee takes injuries into account, and Georgia is a different team with Maten on the floor.

Prediction: OUT

You can make cases for and against the Bulldogs, like we just did, but ultimately they don’t have enough good wins to get into the NCAA Tournament.

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